advice on buying used carbon road bikes?

cyuan16

Any advice on whether buying used carbon bikes is good or bad? Would you rather buy a new mid range carbon bike, or a 2010 top end road bike, but used and in good condition.

milese

I'd buy used everytime.

My last 2 carbon bike purchases were both used.

In 2009 and I bought a 2006 Specialized Tarmac comp with an RRP of £1800, for £650.
Last year I bought a 2011 BMC Team Machine SLR01 (the one Cadel Evans won the tour on) with an RRP (and reciept) of £4000, for £1650 (inc £200 of DA pedals)

Both bikes had been ridden for 600 / 800 miles, and were literally immaculate, showing no signs of wear. They were basically in the condition they'd have been within 2 weeks of me buying them new.

Had I spent the same money on a new bike I'd have got a bike of a much lesser brand, at least one, maybe two groupsets lower with lower range components and a much less proven frame. Or I'd have spend nearly 3 times as much money to be in the same position 2 or 3 weeks down the line.

sloppyschleckonds

Something nice about buying a brand new bicycle....

Bozman

Have a good idea of what you want including size and colour, take your time and don't rush in to anything.
Personally I'll pick the frame up so that you can check the frame over, if you're using eBay don't be frightened to make a low cash offer or if a frame fails to sell send a message and make a cash offer.

cycleclinic

It is the same as buying any other bike. Buy the right size. Do not rely on the sellers description as most people do not have a clue about bikes and when they describe something as working well that could mean rough hub e.t.c even a worn rim. Just factor in that sort of thing into the price you are willing to pay.

mfin

If you can buy a s/h frameset only it can be well worth doing if you can find one that's been meticulously looked after, copter taped properly a frame can be good as new after thousands and thousands of miles of use.

cycleclinic

I have bought many nearly new S/h framsets from the early 90's that have not been taped. That's like putting a bonnet bra on your car or seat covers to protect those bits but seeing as you will never them becuase they are covered what is the point.

mfin

thecycleclinic wrote:

I have bought many nearly new S/h framsets from the early 90's that have not been taped. That's like putting a bonnet bra on your car or seat covers to protect those bits but seeing as you will never them becuase they are covered what is the point.

You can't see the tape at all though, you just put it on the places likely to get marked and when you decide to sell and you peel the tape off the potential buyer will likely be looking at something that looks pretty much new.

mjf1017

I can't comment on buying a carbon bike, but I would highly recommend buying second hand. I bought my Giant in 2014 spec, off ebay for £560 compared to £1k new. The bike gleamed and there was virtually no wear on the tyres.
Do make sure you get the right frame size though, don't buy a too large a frame just because the bike is a bargain. I had very specific choices of bikes so just did very specific searches on ebay.
I would always buy 2nd hand now, plenty of people out there who buy an expensive bike and get bored of it after doing next to no mileage.